MAICH 23, 1916. [/QGHT]
AIRCRAFT WORK AT THE FRONT.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION.
British. General Headquarters, March 15/A.
"Considerable aerial activity. Many combats took place. A
determined attack on one of our reconnaissances was driven off. A
hostile observation balloon was forced to descend when attacked
with bombs."
General Headquarters, March 19th.
" Hostile aeroplanes were again active, and there were many
combats. A hostile machine was brought down in the vicinity of
Radinghem. One of our reconnaissances was heavily engaged, but
drove off all attacks, and drove down one hostile machine in a
damaged condition. All our machines returned safely, having
completed their missions."
Admiralty, March 20th.
" In the early hours of this morning a combined force of
approximately fifty British, French, and Belgian aeroplanes and
seaplanes, accompanied by fifteen fighting machines, left, and
attacked the German seaplane station at Zeebrugge and the
aerodrome at Houltade, near Zeebrugge. Considerable damage
appears to have been done. Machines on an average carried
200 lb. of bombs.
"All machines returned safely. One Belgian officer is reported
seriously wounded. All the British machines referred to were
naval."
French. Paris, March l$th. Evening.
" Six aeroplanes of the first bombardment group and five double-
engine aeroplanes dropped forty-two heavy shells on the station of
Brieulles.
" Very numerous aerial actions were fought to-day in the region
of Verdun. Three German aeroplanes were seen distinctly to have
been brought down by our machines in the German lines. One of
our aeroplanes, attacked by four enemy machines to the east of
Lore, fought them, and succeeded in bringing down one of its
adversaries, which fell in the region of Cernay. The French aero
plane returned safely to our lines."
Paris, March l&th. Afternoon.
" Yesterday, in spite of the mist and the low clouds, our battle
planes in the region of Verdun made twenty-nine pursuing flights,
in which they fought thirty-two actions to a conclusion. One
Fokker appears to have been seriously damaged.
" Last night a group of seventeen aeroplanes dropped fifty-four
bombs of heavy calibre, forty on the station of Confians, and
fourteen on that of Metz. The bombs attained their mark, and
many explosions were noted along the railway lines, while three
fires broke out in the station ot Metz-Sablons. Although violently
bombarded along their entire course, our machines returned safely.
" During an offensive reconnaissance another air squadron dropped
ten bombs on the aerodrome of Dieuze and five on the station of
Arnaville."
Paris, March 19th. Afternoon.
"In the region of Verdun one of our aeroplanes brought down
an enemy machine, which fell in flames into our lines near
Montzeville.
" Five of our double-motor machines bombarded the station of
Metz-Sablons, the enemy ammunition depdts at Chateau Salins, and
the aerodrome of Dieuze. Thirty bombs of heavy calibre were
dropped during this expedition, of which twenty were dropped on
the station at Melx.
" One of our bombardment squadrons, composed of twenty-three
machines, dropped seventy-two bombs on the aviation ground of
Sapsheim, and on the goods station at Mulhausen.
" Enemy aeroplanes sent in pursuit of our machines engaged
them in an aerial battle, during which one French machine and one
German machine brought down each other with their machine-gun
fire. Two other German machines fell in flames, and three of our
aeroplanes were seriously damaged, and had to land on enemy
territory."
Paris, March iqth. Evening.
" Sergeant Navarre brought down his seventh German aeroplane
in the region of Verdun. The enemy machine fell in our lines."
Paris, March 20th. Afternoon.
" About four o'clock this morning some British, French, and
Belgian aeroplanes bombarded the aviation camp of Houltade, east
of Ostend. Nineteen French machines took part in the raid, and
all have returned safely."
Paris, March tot*. Evminf.
"During the night of the 19th our bombarding aeroplane*
dropped twenty-five bombs on the railway station of Dun-sur-Meuse,
where movements of troops on an extensive scale had been reported.
All the bombs reached their objects. This morning one of our
pursuit aeroplanes drove down in the region of Verdun an enemy
machine, which fell in our lines."
Russian. Pttrograd, March IQfti.
"Our torpedo boats sank, near the Bulgarian coast, a steamer
laden with petrol. They were attacked without success by enemy
aeroplanes, which dropped eight bombs. The crew of the steamer
was taken on board our torpedo boats."
German. Berlin, March 15M.
" Lieutenant Immelmann shot down two British aeroplane*, one
east of Arras and the other west of Beaumont. The occupants are
dead. Lieutenant Boelcke brought down two enemy aeroplanes
behind the French line, the first above the fortress of Marre and the
second near Malancourt (north-west of Verdun). Both machines
were destroyed by our artillery. This was the tenth enemy
machine that Lieutenant Immelmann had placed hors de combat
and the eleventh credited 10 Lieutenant Boclckc.
" West of Cambrai a British biplane was forced to descend after
an aerial fight, and the occupants were captured."
Berlin, March 16/*.
" North of Bapaume Lieut. Leffers shot down his fourth enemy
aeroplane, this being a British biplane. Near Vimy, north-east of
Arras, and near Sivry, on the Meuse, our anti-aircraft guns shot
down altogether three French aeroplanes. Above Haumont, north
of Verdun, a large French aeroplane fell, after an aerial tight. The
occupants were captured.
«' In an aerial fight south-east of Beine (Champagne), a French
aeroplane was shot down, its occupants being burnt to death.
" Enemy airmen last night again attacked the German hospitals
at Labry, east of Conflans. The first attack took place during the
night of March izth-ijth. No military damage was done. Of
the population, one woman was severely and one woman and two
children slightly injured."
Berlin, March 19M.
" On the night of March r7th one of our airships attacked the
Entente Fleet near Kara Burnu, south of Salonika."
Berlin, March zoth,
" Favoured by good observation conditions, the artillery and air
activity has been very vigorous on both sides.
" In the course of air battles Lieutenant von Althaus r.hot down
his fourth enemy aeroplane over the enemy's line west of Lihont,
while Lieutenant Boelke shot down his twelfth aeroplane over the
Forges Wood, on the left bank of the Meuse. Moreover, the enemy
lost three further aeroplanes, one in an air battle near Cuisy, west of
the Forges Wood, and two others through the fire of anti-aircraft
guns. One of the last fell down in flames near Kheims, the other
turning over several times in the neighbourhood of Ban de Sapt,
close behind the enemy's lines."
Austrian. Vienna, March 15M.
" Italian airmen dropped bombs on Trieste without, however,
causing any damage."
Turkish. Constantinople., March l6M.
" On the evening of March 14th, in the neighbourhood of the
landing-stage of Akaba, at the head of the gulf, east of the Sinai
Peninsula, bombs dropped by an enemy aeroplane all fell into the
sea.
" We shot down an enemy aeroplane two kilometres east of the
Suez Canal. The occupants escaped.
" One of our aeroplanes attacked enemy aeroplanes with machina-
gun fire, and forced them to fly to Imbros."
Constantinople, A/arch 20th.
" Irak Front.—On Saturday one of our aeroplanes threw some
bombs on Kut-el-Amara and succeeded in hitting a gun and an
enemy detachment."
From Other Sources.
A letter from an officer attached to the Royal Flying Corps
dated February 8th, and published in the Times, gives the following
little peep at the '« day's work " in the R.F.C. :—
"No news since my last, except very sad—for us anyway. We
have just lost a very gallant and very dear member of our mess, and
his hut effort makes us all proud to think he was one of us.
*' He is another victim of most astonishing bad luck, not by any
means of enemy supremacy in the air. He wa< flying the day
before yesterday, and of course the usual concourse of Huns were
following at long range—opening fire occasionally with a few
rounds—but we were taking no notice of them. We had almost
got back when a lucky shot got the old chap in the thigh. All the
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